They were using cell phones to call Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer, who was driving around the city to read numbers from reports posted at the various precinct polling places. In a phone call to Fowler, the mayor declared a victory.

The city officials wore stickers with "13 The Only Road for Lorain" on their jackets. They were cautiously optimistic, but no one wanted to presume victory even with more than 81 percent of Lorain's 43 precincts counted.

The issue will raise about $5.3 million a year, with half of the money earmarked to improve the city's streets, Mayor Chase Ritenauer said.

The rest of the money would restore Lorain's Parks Department, which was eliminated when park maintenance was merged into the Streets Department. The tax money also would support general city operations.

The issue is not a cure-all, Ritenauer said, but it is critical to making Lorain's streets smoother and the city more attractive to new businesses and residents.

As of 11 p.m., the issue was passing 10,245 in favor and 9,435 against, according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.

Voters were feeling generous in Sheffield Village and Avon Lake as well, where tax issues were passing late Tuesday night.

However, Vermilion voters were turning down a proposed income tax increase to pay for road upgrades in that city, according to unofficial election results.

VERMILION

Voters were turning down the proposed half percent increase in Vermilion's income tax, which ran as Issue 5 in Erie County and Issue 19 in Lorain County.

The levy had 879 votes for and 1,488 votes against as of 10 p.m., according to unofficial results from the Erie County Board of Elections.

The levy had 726 votes for and 1,586 votes against as of 11 p.m., according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.

The money was to help pay for road maintenance and city services.

Approval would have provided $250,000 for road improvements and $250,000 would be budgeted for city expenses, Vermilion Mayor Eileen Bulan has said.

The city's current income tax rate is 1 percent with a 0.5 percent forgiveness for those who work outside the city and pay income taxes to another municipality, Bulan said.

The forgiveness was to rise to 1 percent, so "people who work outside the city will not pay any additional tax and retired people will not pay the tax," she said.

If the issue does not pass, the city would have to make additional general fund cuts and providing other programs such as police, parks and recreation and the senior bus would have to be evaluated.

A charter change to elect Vermilion's president of the city council passed 1,349 to 766 in Erie County, according to unofficial results from the Erie County Board of Elections.

The charter change also was passing 498 to 238 as of 10 p.m., according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.

AVON LAKE

Voters were passing the Avon Lake EMS replacement levies of 1.25-mills and an increase of 0.75 mills.

The levy had 4,323 votes for and 2,987 votes against as of 10 p.m., according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.

If Avon Lake does not pass the 2-mill replacement paramedic levy, the city could face cuts in all of its departments.

The levy previously lost by six votes in the August election.

Mayor Greg Zilka previously said some misconceptions likely hurt the August campaign, as some voters believed the levy added 2-mills to the existing 1.25-mill levy rather than 0.75-mills.

The fire department costs roughly $4 million per year to operate, the new levy would pay for $1.6 million of the budget with the remaining $2.4 million coming from the city's general fund.

SHEFFIELD VILLAGE

Voters were approving the Sheffield Village fire levy, an additional 1.75-mill levy.

The levy had 386 votes for and 314 votes against as of 11 p.m., according to unofficial results from the Lorain County Board of Elections.

The average age of Sheffield Village Fire Department's life-saving equipment is about 14 years, according to an internal needs assessment the department conducted.

That figure is unacceptable to Sheffield Village Fire Chief Jeff Young, whose department is asking voters for a 1.75-mill additional levy for five years which will be on the Nov. 6 ballot. It will cost a property owner of an $100,000 home $53.60 a year.

Young said several pieces of equipment are so old that they are not up to date with standards set by the National Fire Protection Association standards or the Ohio Administrative Code for Firefighting Safety Rules and could be dangerous.

"It bothers me that we might have a piece of equipment that fails to operate at the time of an emergency," Young said previously.